The future of South Florida track and field are on their way to the USATF Junior Olympics in a little more than two weeks, but before they dominate on their own with their respective clubs, they have decided to join forces for the AAU Club Championships. These 13-14 year old girls will definitely be competing for a team title at Clubs this year as all five girls are at the top of the list in their events. With that being said this merger was a long time coming as 4 of the 5 girls have been running with each other since the age of 9. Their chemistry will defitnley show as they will be running a 4x400 and 4x800. Daishon Spann, Jermecia Brown, Jatana
Folston, Kasia Cooper and Dominique Spann make up the 13-14 year old all-star squad of Each One Teach One Track Club. The girls have a really steep range that will cover all the events; they’ll be participating in 100mh to the 1500m and the two relays. Here’s a breakdown of what the girls are capable of:
Jatana Folston- Miami Gardens Express
Folston is currently attending Ransom Everglades and has competed at the 2A State Meet these past two years in the 4x800 and 800m. This year Folston placed 3rd in the 800m running 2:15.78 at the state meet as just an 8th grader. Right after the state meet, she became FLRYA Middle School State Runner Up in the 800m. At the AAU Club Championships she will be running the 400m where she is seeded 2nd overall. She is also coming off of running two personal bests in the 400m running 56.92 and 56.54. At Clubs she’ll also be in the 4x800, 4x400m and she will also be long jumping. With her personal best in the long jump it places her 3rd overall in the competition. Jatana alone can score 14 points just off her seeded position.
Dominique Spann- Plantation H.E.A.T.
Dominique Spann has some real distance depth going into the competition, running everything from the 800m to the 3000m, she really does it all. Spann is going to the 8th grade at Lauderdale Lakes Middle School, and is already the reigning 1600m champion running 5:33 at the Broward MSAA County Championships. With her 5:02.51 PR in the 1500m and 2:24.41, Spann is ranked 3rd and 7th overall in the event. Spann is the only true distance runner in the group, she will defitnley be needed to score some points on the distance side. Spann will also be a pivotal leg on E.O.T.O Elite’s 4x800m as they will be close to chasing the AAU Club National record of 9:14. Without her points, that might be the difference between runner up and 13/14 year old girls’ team champions.
Jermecia Brown- Fort Lauderdale Track Club
The true sprinter of the group, Jermecia Brown has personal bests of 57.63 and 25.87 in the 400m and the 200m; and she’s only going into the 8th grade. Brown was the 2014 FLYRA Middle School State Champion in the 400m. With E.O.T.O. Elite she will be running the 400m, the 200m, and the 4x400m relay. She’s seeded 4th in the 400m right behind teammate Jatana, Folston, and in the 200m she’s seeded 11th. In order to make an impact in the points E.O.T.O. Elite needs Brown to score in the 200m and the 400m. If both Brown and Folston score in the 400m they can score at LEAST 13 points.
Kasia Cooper ��" South Dade Xpress
Kasia Cooper is a young lady of many talents, Cooper runs the 400m, 800m and she high jumps. Cooper will be a key leg on the 4x800m and 4x400m relays with her personal best of 2:19.48 and 57.24. At the AAU Club Championships she will be focusing on only relays as she has USATF Junior Olympics to look forward to.
Daishon Spann ��" Plantation H.E.A.T.
The leader of the E.O.T.O Elite 13-14 super star team would have to be Daishon Spann. Recently Spann just ran the U.S. #1 Middle School 800m time with a 2:13.66 at the USATF Junior Olympic Qualifier. Over this past year Spann has added a number of events to her athletic resume. Spann now competes in the 100mh, high jump, the pentathlon, and the 800m. At the USATF Qualifier Spann won all 4 of her events; she got 2 other personal bests that weekend; 14.85 in the 100mh and a 5’1 jump in the high jump. This week at AAU Club Nationals Daishon is already again National Champion in the 14 year old Pentathlon. She is going to be the biggest scorer this weekend. Anyhow she continues this winning streak she’ll have a total of 9 gold medals in two weeks.
These girls are going to be a force to reckon with as they are a South Florida Dream Team. A dream team that’s been four years in the making. With the amount of talent these girls have, there’s no way something great won’t come out of this.
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